Albion
The Kingdom of Albion, known to most merely as Albion, refers to both a continent of Tyria and the Kingdom that occupies it. It is the largest and most prosperous state of Tyria, spanning from the west coast of continent to the Andal wastes in the east. Primarily a Human kingdom, though also home to sizeable minorities of Dwarves, Elves and Gnomes, Albion has seen significant recovery from Calamity and endured its share of bloodshed and hardship. Governance of Albion is split between the King of Albion and the Lion's Circle, a council of civilian and military bureaucrats. It consists of seven Holds, each ruled by a feudal Lord Paramount that swears allegiance to the King of Albion and, along with other notables of the realm, convene at the Great Council of Albion with the King and the Circle. The weak and indecisive leadership of King Foltest and rampant corruption in Lionsgate and the Circle combined with cataclysmic recent events, namely the rise of Thordak, has brought Albion to the brink of collapse. With many factions reconsidering their allegiance and place with the Kingdom, and corruption becoming increasingly commonplace across the realm, the future of Albion seems dire. Much of the Kingdom, however, has remained relatively untouched wilderness. History Following the creation, and subsequent razing, of Tyria, a post-Divergence world was now left to rise from the ashes and begin a new era. While every continent has had their own rebirth since the terrible destruction of the Calamity, this history recounts the journey of the continent of Albion, from the Calamity to the modern state. After the Calamity Early restorations Not more than 800 years ago, what is now known as the continent of Albion housed the germinating seeds of restored civilization. It was the hardy, dependable dwarves who best weathered the war between gods and mortals, and within the Iron Mountains, the dwarven clans built the subterranean city of Kraghammer. The proud clans were the first to reclaim the riches of the earth, and nestled in its safe embrace they founded expansive mines of rich metals and minerals, ensuring a prosperous foothold under the banner of the ruling Clan Ironhand. Far to the south of Kraghammer lived the elves. In the wake of the Calamity, the surviving found shelter in the otherworldly peace of the Feywild, returning a generation later, united under the guidance of an elven sorceress named Yenlara. The elves rallied to her both for her defiant strength and her compassion in the face of adversity. It was under Yenlara’s wise rule that elven society once again began to reform. She led her people westward to the Brightwood, an untamed forest born from the surging, post-Calamity energies left untouched by the Betrayers’ evil. Calling themselves High Elves, Yenlara’s people began to construct a new home for elven culture in these lands. This reborn home was given the name Highgate. The new elven society came to call this land Gwessar— in their tongue, the Fields of Joy—and they refer to the continent of Tyria by that name to this day. Resurgence of the Humans The dwarves and elves are long-lived people, and when they struggled to rebuild their civilizations, there were those among them who still remembered the world that was. The humans were not so fortunate. Their histories, written by warmongers in fading ink on waterlogged parchment and vellum, did not survive the years. Yet humanity endured. Several centuries after the Ironhand dwarves began this period of renewal, the surviving humans of Vasselheim tentatively left the safety of the ancient city walls to explore lands to them yet unexplored. The ruins of their first settlements still stand today, in the form of the many barrows littering the aptly named Barrow Fields. But, as is to be expected of any burgeoning human civilization, the people of the realm sought sovereign leadership. Thus arose the first King of Vasselheim, Daeron the Oak, hailing from a tiny farming village named Oakvale. Age of Heroes In the early years of his reign, recognizing the need for leadership in a post-apocalyptic world, Daeron established the Hero's Guild, an organisation consisting of those talented in magic and melee that sought to defend the growing human population from the wild monsters to which Albion is home. The Guild, built on the banks of Bower Lake, was an organisation that adopted and trained so-called 'Heroes', or those proficient in magic and melee. These Heroes guided the infant human society to its revival, facilitating expansion with the protection of burgeoning settlements and the exploration of dangerous territories. Early in its existence the Guild produced two heroes that would shape the future of Albion- the warrior Vex'ahlia and the mage Vax'ildan. The two were bitter rivals, and were commissioned by the King of Vasselheim to forge routes west through the mountains, with Vax to follow the River Blackwater in the north and Vex to trace the Bower Rush in the South. The two rivers, however, met at a conflux, and it was there the two heroes were reunited after their treacherous journeys. Together they established the settlement of Riverrun, which they ruled together. Further exploration was conducted, with armies and settlers following the Heroes until all the western shores fell under their banner. In the West, they found fertile fields unsalted by the nearby sea against an inlet unmarred by looming rocks and dangerous reefs, and they began to build. They did not know their city would become the heart of a great empire. They did not know the glory and sorrow that would surround their city of Emon, that would come to be known as Lionsgate. Tensions and Corruption The rise of human colonies vexed the elves of Highgate. Forests such as the Brightwood that had stood for centuries fell under the axes of creatures who lived only a scant few decades, abetted by the construction of such forest-tinged cities as Bowerstone. These tensions did not rise to war, but the humans gnawed at peace like termites. Some of the elves, appalled by the rampant consumption of the humans, detached from their people and retreated into the wilds, to become known as the Nepharim. As the first human civilization on this part of the world after the Calamity, a handful of self-entitled noble houses arose in Emon and established law and structure, but those who designed the game stacked the deck in their favor. Corruption spread through the upper echelons of Emon, and power-hungry politicians seized each new and valuable resource that was discovered in their bountiful new kingdom. They turned their citizens against each other, forcing them to fight for scraps while they hoarded the lion’s share. Rise of the Baratheons Emon was a political war zone, and the greatest warrior of them all was a loudmouthed braggart and cunning oligarch named Oryx Baratheon. The chaos and mistrust in Emon allowed Baratheon and his agents to seize power and transform the realm into his own, installing himself as its supreme monarch. King Oryx was quick to sever any remaining connections with the elves of Highgate and make new alliances with the dwarves of the Underdark, marrying his autocratic power with the dwarves’ immense material wealth. The elves were furious, but the ambassador from Highgate to Emon, an idealistic grandson of the still-living Yenlara, hoped to resolve this diplomatically. Upon arrival, he was apprehended, tortured, and slain. This final act of treachery sent Highgate into arms, and the continent erupted into a long and terrible war between Yenlara’s kin and Baratheon’s bloodline known as the Scattered War. Age of the Shroud Reign of Oryx The Scattered War lasted for thirty-two years and is colloquially known as the “Age of the Shroud”. The war spanned throughout the Iron, Frostfang and Tretogor Mountains and into parts of Brightwood and Barrow Fields, with the human colonies spread throughout the soon-to-be-warring territories. The settlements, towns, and cities had no means of long-range communication, and could not warn each other; Oryx was able to attack each one with little resistance. He taught his soldiers to infiltrate their enemy, listening from the shadows to uncover their weaknesses, determining the best point of attack and how best to destroy the morale of any obstinate insurgents. With the groundwork complete, one of Baratheon’s generals would strike at the weakened masses with swiftness and savagery. Baratheon’s shadow tactics were uncouth, but while viewed as highly irregular and dishonorable, proved extremely effective in preventing widespread uprising. Cities crumbled beneath the shadow of Oryx’s rule. The lights within settlements of humans and high elves alike were snuffed out, and this creeping brutality lasted more than nine years. King Oryx Baratheon eventually sent his troops to what was believed to be the nearly abandoned village of Westruun, rumored to be a haven for refugees. Oryx led his men throughout the ghost town, and they scattered about to look for survivors. As they regrouped in the town square, Oryx delivered an inspiring speech on the utility of fear and shadow in worthwhile victory. It was at the height of his arrogance that the first arrow struck, followed shortly by a volley that clouded the sky. It appeared that after nine years of darkness and slaughter, Yenlara’s wood elves and the rebellious humans of the scattered colonies joined forces and formed an alliance on their own accord, outside the need for civil agreements or political treaties. Reign of Tytos After Oryx Baratheon fell, his first successor and son, Tytos Baratheon rose to power. Tytos shunned the brutal methods of his father, instead finding his interests in more sinister powers. He became known as “Tytos the Black”, as his dabbling in necromancy left him shrouded in perpetual shadows. However, his militarization of infernal magics and forbidden rites elevated the threat of Baratheon’s war machine. Tytos led his army back to the town of Westruun where his father was executed, to exact his hideous vengeance. In the town square, he piled high the corpses of the elven and human traitors to make pyres that lit the night. Westruun was burned to ash. By far, the darkest days of the Scattered War were during Tytos’ rule. He introduced tactics and magics to fuel his soldiers beyond human limits, leaving their bodies altered and mutated by foul, dark, necromantic magics. Their minds became warped and twisted to favor mindless bloodshed and domination. Baratheon forces became the perfect weapons of war, their ranks blessed by the unholy touch of the Betrayer God known as the Strife Emperor. In the face of such terrible power and willful tyranny, the rebellion of men and elves continued to bolster their ranks with vengeful orphans and eager heroes. One such hero who came to be instrumental in the coming conflict was called Haldren Lionheart. A human who rose from the harried streets of Highgate during such dark times, Haldren quickly proved to be both a mighty warrior and an inspirational leader. Rallying the broken ranks of the resistance, Haldren lured Tytos and his vanguard into the mysterious brush of the Brightwood, a realm where fey magic was to work in Highgate’s favor. Having unleashed their forces upon what they thought was the Elven outpost known as the Shifting Keep, the illusionary magic of the locale left the army without a target, and vulnerable to ambush. The retribution of the forest merged with the weapons of Haldren’s warriors, striking with enough ferocity that Tytos and his blighted soldiers were crushed, signaling a shift in the tides of war. As word of Tytos’ defeat and death spread, hope grew for all the oppressed peoples of the realm. Even so, the last years of fighting were still ahead of them, for Oryx’s youngest son stood to take power, and was sworn to avenge his family and protect their seat of rule. Reign of Durran King Durran Baratheon, second-born son of the despotic Oryx Baratheon, took the throne, envisioning the end of the Scattered War, and tasting victory on his lips. Durran was neither as brilliant nor as charismatic as his father; his armies were stretched thin and his people rose up. The rebels, led by the young warrior Haldren Lionheart, found themselves winning one minor victory after another. Soon, King Durran’s army had its back to the imposing base of the Iron Mountains north of Whitestone. Riding the tide of certain victory, Haldren and his rebels, allied with the Elves of Highgate, pursued Durran to the Ironfrost valley, but fiends fought in the ranks of their enemy. The spawn of the Betrayers had returned to the world from beyond the mountains and spilled into the battlefield like a river of nightmares. The surrounding hills ran dark with blood and ichor, and the bodies of humans and demons alike littered the battlefield. Yet, against all odds, the hero Haldren ended the Baratheon bloodline, and with it, the infernal pact it had made. The grass and flowers of the now-named Shadowscar valley grow black and burnt as an echo of this battle, their sap coursing with the searing blood of the demons that was spilled that day. Age of the Lion After the Scattered War Society had all but collapsed during the war. Much of elven society and civilization within the Brightwood had been obliterated, leaving behind the tortured city of Highgate and a few scattered settlements throughout the verdant expanse. The leaders of the rebels assembled a council of trusted and proven minds, constituting the ruling bureaucracy of Emon and Albion, but the people of Albion were accustomed to a singular leader, a king. The council nominated the war hero Haldren Lionheart to take the seat, and he humbly accepted. Despite Haldren’s protests, the council unanimously agreed the great capital should be renamed ‘Lionsgate’, with the council becoming the Lion’s Circle. With power divided amongst the King and the Circle, Albion’s leaders cleared their realm of most corruption and brutality. Remaking Albion The young Kingdom was divided into seven Holds, administrative regions that swore fealty to Lionsgate; the Crownlands, Westmarch, Brightwood, Frosthold, Barrow Fields, Velen and the Underdark. The leading clans of the Underdark claimed they had been manipulated by the Baratheons, and spent many years making amends, but the trust between the kingdoms was long to heal. Each Hold would be governed by a Lord Paramount, to whom the lesser lords of the Hold in turn swore fealty. These Lords were to convene every five years at the Great Council of Albion, in the city of Riverrun. In the case of the dwarves of Underdark, the Triarchs of the three great dwarven cities of Kraghammer, Ironwrath and Galagor, were to be each represented on the Great Council, as was the Archon of Highgate. Fall of the Guild Peace and prosperity tends to breed arrogance and complacency, and such was the case with the people of Albion after enduring the horrors of the Baratheon’s tyrannical rule. Viewing the Hero’s Guild with increasing suspicion and distrust rationalised by the perception of the purpose of the Guild as void in a peacetime context, public and political sentiment turned against the ancient institution. Spurred by the weak and misguided leadership of the Guildmaster Vost, appointed bureaucratically rather that meritoriously and fostering a generation of cruel, corrupt and complacent ‘Heroes’, the Guild began a significant period of deterioration in power and prestige. Finally, during the rule of Haldren III, a popular revolt of the Bower Lake populace stormed the already crumbling Guild and razed it to the ground, leaving nothing but scorched stone and charred timber. Much knowledge, including histories reaching back to the time of Daeron and chronicles of the Scattered War, were lost in the blaze, as were many magical artifacts of the Calamity. Thus marked the end of the Hero’s Guild, and the Age of Heroes. The Cinder King After many generations of peaceful rule within the city of Lionsgate, there spread word of a shadow in the South that threatened outlying townships skirting the edges of Lionsgate’s influence. Trade caravans that hail from the Exandria began to vanish, while the scattered villages south of Oxcross sent for aid and armed protection against a “nightmare of fire and malice.” Queen Visenya Lionheart felt that the economic cost of sending a regiment that far south to such small communities without confirmation of threat was a misuse of resources. It wasn’t until two years later when reports of a powerful red dragon reached the ears of the Great Council of Albion that the seriousness of the situation was considered. The Kingdom sorely missed the protection granted by the Guild of yore, even in its waning years, and their effect of their absence would be starkly apparent in the battle to come. By then, much of the vibrant fields covering the Velen countryside were turned to ash, and the outerfolk of the region bent to slavery under this new and terrible threat. Calling himself Thordak the Cinder King, the red dragon tyrant was thought slain nearly two centuries before over the Aurora sea by the vengeful military powers that protect the desert continent of Exandria. The beast claimed dominion over the southern lands, expanding his influence through fear and tyranny. With the martial forces of the capital city of Lionsgate combined with the arms of Barrow Fields, Vasselheim, Bowerstone and Highgate unleashed, a terrible struggle erupted south of the Tretogor Mountains, leaving many a good soldier reduced to bone and ember. It was by the slimmest of margins that a lasting victory over the Cinder King was won, the mages of Arcana Pansophical sealing the unstoppable wyrm within the Elemental Plane of Fire forever. Or so they thought. The Seven Holds The Kingdom of Albion consists of seven Holds, each ruled by a Great Lord subservient to the King. Each of these Great Lords, in turn, presides over a multitude of lower Lords within their respective Holds, such as Counts and Barons, who govern smaller portions of land. In times of war, each Great Lord calls upon their lesser Lords to muster their forces to form a larger Hold army, which in turn is commanded by the King. Since the Conquest their have been a number of small rebellions, both internally and between Holds, however they were few and far between. The Holds of Albion include: * Brightwood- located north of the Bloodwater and stretching from the Iron Mountains to the sea, Brightwood is almost entirely covered by dense forests, The Hold is governed from the capital of Bowerstone * Barrow Fields- the largest of the seven Holds, Barrow Fields was the first region of Albion to be settled by humans. Known as the 'Breadbasket of Albion' for its incredibly fertile soil, it is ruled from the ancient capital of Barrowton * Westmarch- named for the terrible storms that ravage the Hold's coastline, Westmarch strech from the Bloodwater in the north to the tip of the Shattered isle in the south. It is ruled form the weather-beaten capital of Westcliffe * Velen- Situated in the centre of the kingdom south of the Bloodwater, Velen is known as the 'Crossroads of the Kingdom', primarily owing to the intersection of the Albion's two largest trade routes at the capital of Oxcross * Crownlands- the smallest of the Holds, the Crownlands consist of a handful of settlements surrounding the capital of Albion, Lionsgate, The Crownlands are governed directly by the King of Albion * Frostweald- consisting of all of the inhabitable land north of the Frostfangs, the Frostweald is scarcely populated, largely owing to the treacherously cold weather and poor farming conditions. The Hold is ruled from the Whitestone. * The Underdark- somewhat loose and undefined in its boundaries, the dwarf settlements of the Iron Mountains span the entire Iron Mountain range, as well as some portions of the Frostfang and Tretogor Mountains. Much of the Hold is located underground or within the mountains, such as the capital of Kraghammer